RadicalRC lasercut tricopter frames: the prototype

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Never catch a multirotor

I just finished the quick-build of the RadicalRC lasercut tricopter. This is the firts one for testing. When ok, our club will build more (larger and smaller ones) with all the correct length wiring etc.

One 2 FLY

Hey Looks Great Burg! Yeah I don't think you will have a problem with your orientation with the bright yellow canopy lol, I don't know how I could ever fly mine without my canopy. I'm glad you like your Radical RC kit, ill have to show the guys pics of your tricopter next time I'm in Dayton, OH. I'm really happy with my Yaw plate, i bought one from them to use on my next Tricopter build. Hope you shoot some Video of it Flying
Good Luck and Happy Flying!

Never catch a multirotor

You might have seen that this is a 90-135-135 degrees boom setup.
With this tricopter I used the radicalrc quadcopter frame.
The actual 120-120-120 tricopter frame being build now (shorter booms).

I am having some trouble setting up the TX in 90-135-135 configuration.
A standard 120-120-120 is easy (=plane setup) but I sure can use a little help with this layout.
The tricopter is quite stable but does someone have advice setting up in heli-mode ?

Never catch a multirotor

I would think so too as the angles are not so much different.
Still it feels like she intends to flip sideways more quicker.
And when she goes, she goes ..
Maybe because the width is less then with 120-120-120

I have to test the response when adjusting the pots.
In the mean time the original radicalrc tricopter will be completed and I can verify the difference.

As you can see I had to move the lipo backwards to get the cg richt in the middle of the contr board.
Because the 90 degree front boom angle brings the cg more forward.

I'll have to order some more tri-kits for other club members, I'll ask Dave from radicalrc for some advise.

One 2 FLY

Hey Burg as far as your Swash set up, I also have. HK board V1 and have my Tri in heli mode on my TX but I'm only using it in Single Servo Swash mode, bc I had problems when I put it 120 and it flew way better after I switch back to 1 servo Swash settings and it still flies super stable with that set up.

Junior Member

Looks great. Your took a novel path with the landing gear loops. That looks like a better idea than the wire bending plan I give with the kit. ;-) They look bent around too short a radius to be carbon. I notice your not retaining it with wheel collars. Is it just music wire with black heat shrink? I might have to add your idea to the kit.

For my current machine, I'm using the heli gear with the heli gear mount set.

Never catch a multirotor

The landing gear wire loops are just a (heavier) quick fix. It is simple M2 x 300 metal push wiring. I noticed that your motor mounts are pre-cut for securing this solution with wheel collars (nice!) But the wire loops are very tight the way they are now. Will secure them later with wheel collars if this prooves to be working.

I agree with you that a 450-600 size heli gear looks better, but it's less stable. When the radicalrc tricopter that we are building now is completed and trimmed ok, we will deff fit such heli gear ;-)

Let's ask the others here what they would like to see different or modified with your laser cut kits. I understood that there was a request for smaller servo yaw mounts. I suppose for small / micro tricopters ?

Monkey/Bear Poker

Okay, this looks like it flies great and easy, are tri and quads easy to fly?

I have been flying planes about a year now, and have played with some cheap helicopters. I do fly helis on Clearview FS. This one looks really stable. What is the difference in flight characteristics between a tri and quad?

Multi-rotor madman

Okay, this looks like it flies great and easy, are tri and quads easy to fly?

I have been flying planes about a year now, and have played with some cheap helicopters. I do fly helis on Clearview FS. This one looks really stable. What is the difference in flight characteristics between a tri and quad?

tri-copter and quad-copters are both WAY more stable than most heli traditional helis. As far as multi-rotors go, it seems the more props, the more stable. The biggest difference that I noticed between tri & quad is that the tri-copter will yaw quicker because of the vectoring tail. Tri's are a little bit less stable than a quad when it comes to gathering really smooth video from an onboard camera, for instance, when you try to "park" a tricopter in a perfect hover it tends to not stay as still as a quad. You can do really nice stuff from a tri, but the quad in my humble opinion seems to be a tad bit smoother. Could just be me though. For FPV, they both do a great job. Hope this helps.....there is a ton of info on here about tri-copters. I am going to start a thread on my quad here pretty soon.